The Contest is open to all developers, regardless of location and age, except for where prohibited by law. By participating in this Contest, each entrant accepts the conditions stated in these Official Rules, agrees to be bound by the decisions of the judges, and warrants that she/he is eligible to participate in this Contest.

How to Enter

* To enter, follow the instructions on this page: http://www.idevgames.com/forum/showthread.php?p=78396
* You may register for the contest as an individual or as a team, as well as submit multiple entries.
* To be eligible for judging, all entrant applications must be received by no later than Janurary 31, 2005.
* Submit a Mac OS X native (double-clickable application) game, whose archived size does not exceed 4.2MB, by February 10, 2005.
* Submit the source code to your game by February 10, 2005. (no size limitation)
* Game entries that were made public before January 21, 2005 may not be entered.

Conditions

iDevGames and the judging organization are not responsible for late, lost, stolen, damaged, garbled, incomplete, misaddressed, postage-due, or misdirected entries or communications; for errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, or delays in operations or transmission of information, in each case whether arising by way of technical or other failures or malfunctions of computer hardware, software, communications devices, or transmission lines, or data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of entry materials, loss, or otherwise. Sponsor disclaims any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participation in, or accessing or downloading information in connection with, this Contest, and reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify, cancel, terminate, or suspend this Contest should any virus, bug, technical failures, unauthorized human intervention, or other causes beyond iDevGames' control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, or proper conduct of the Contest. In the event of such cancellation, termination, or suspension, a notice will be posted. iDevGames reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant if his or her fraud or misconduct affects the integrity of the Contest.

How Games Are Scored

The judges for the competition assigned 1-10 scores to each game, in ten categories:
The game met the theme of the contest.
I enjoyed playing this game.
The play mechanics of the game were easy to understand.
This is a game I would keep on my hard drive.
This game was presented professionally.
I can easily play this game during my coffee break.
This game felt like it belonged on a Mac.
This game ran smoothly on my machine.
For a racing game, it was pretty original.
I'd love to see the code for this game.

A score of 10 represented strong agreement with the statement, while a score of 1 conveyed strong disagreement. The scores in each category are then combined to determine the game's overall score. Games are ranked according to their overall score.

FAQ

Are there any limitations for game genres?
No, your game can utilize 2D or 3D, and may either be arcade or simulation style. However, we strongly advise you to choose a project that will lend itself to being created in 21 days!

Are there limits on members in a team?
No.

Can I assist another entrant with code, design and/or game assets?
Yes.

What tools are allowed to create entries?
There are no limits to tools, SDKs, engines, etc. as long as the finished playable is a Mac OS X native application and can be launched by double-clicking it in the Finder.

Can I enter a game that is based on publicly available source code?
The contest's goal is to create new and original games. You may use 3rd party source code; however, if the Judges rule that the game does not exhibit enough originality, compared to the game on which its code is based, the entry will be disallowed.

The size limitation is too severe. Can my game transfer/download/stream/etc. additional game assets?
Since the focus is on challenging developers to create a great game in a limited size, entries that connect to an outside network, except for allowing for multi-player gaming, will not be allowed.

Will requiring 3rd party APIs, such as SDL, count against the file size of my entry?
Yes, since any additional APIs which must be installed by the player for the game to function should be bundled in your archive.

Do I have to include single-player or multiplayer play in my entry?
All games must include a single-player mode. Multiplayer mode is optional.

Can I market my game as shareware or release it as open-source, once the Contest obligations are met?
Yes, once the Contest obligations are met, you are free to re-release the playable and/or code in any form as you wish.

Can I use game assets not created by myself or my team?
Yes. However, games which infringe on the copyright of others or their intellectual property in any form will suffer immediate disqualification.

Can I enter a cross-platform entry?
Yes, you may develop your entry as cross-platform. However, all judging will be based on the Mac OS X version.

Can I use Python to to create and enter a game?
Yes, just distribute the compiled bytecode .pyc files and leave the .py files out.